Reconstructing Prehistoric Human Lifestyle

Paragraph 1: The goal of prehistoric archaeology is to reconstruct to the greatest extent possible, through the use of a wide array of scientific methods, the way of life of early nonliterate peoples. Determining the diet of such groups is one of the central concerns of prehistoric human ecology. Floral and faunal remains found in sites of human habitation are the principal forms of evidence archaeologists use. For example, pollen and seeds recovered from places where humans lived are compared with samples taken from locations with no sign of human habitation. If pollen and seeds of certain edible plants are found to be more abundant at the sites of human habitation, one may conclude that the plants were being eaten by human inhabitants. 

1. In paragraph 1, the author mentions which of the following as a method used by archaeologists to discover what early humans ate? 

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O Determining whether flora and fauna growing today at sites where prehistoric people lived were present at these sites in prehistoric times 

O Determining whether pollen and seeds were more numerous in places where prehistoric humans lived than in other places 

O Observing modern humans whose way of life is similar to that of early humans 

O Comparing samples from a variety of places where humans lived with one another 

Paragraph 2: In like fashion, zooarchaeologists are able to use animal bones abandoned at ancient hunter-gatherer living sites to reconstruct diet and even season of occupation. Sometimes they are able to use more direct evidence of human diet, drawn from the analysis of human bone. Chemical analysis of bones enables archaeologists to determine the proportion of meat to vegetable foods in the diet by measuring the proportion of calcium to strontium in ancient bone because strontium in place of calcium in bones comes primarily from ingested plants. Some information on diet can also be derived from fully fossilized teeth. Such information comes from the fine scratches on the surface of teeth caused by abrasive particles in the food, damage known as microwear. 

2. The word ‘abandoned’ in the passage is closest in meaning to 

O buried 

O found 

O located 

O left

3. The phrase ‘derived from’ in the passage is closest in meaning to 

O obtained from

O indicated by 

O sought from 

O connected with 

4. Paragraph 2 states that, in addition to diet, archaeologists can determine which of the following by examining animal bones at living sites? 

O The time of year the site was occupied

O The date at which the site was abandoned 

O The number of people who lived at the site 

O The number of years the site was occupied 

5. What can be inferred from paragraph 2 about an animal whose bones have little strontium in place of calcium? 

O The animal was not likely of a kind consumed by humans. 

O The animal was probably a plant eater. 

O The animal’s diet consisted largely of meat.

O The animal’s diet probably did not cause much wear on its teeth. 

Paragraph 3: It is in open-air sites that some prehistoric people lived in that one finds rich evidence for a variety of architectural features, indicating clearly that prehistoric people built shelters to protect themselves from snow, wind, and rain. Perhaps the most frequently found structures are pavements made of river cobbles carried from some distance away. These structures, often square or rectangular, were probably the foundations for shelters made from skins and wood or animal bones. Even in caves and rock shelters, prehistoric people built additional shelter. For example, a foundation for a dug-out hut — a shelter based on an excavated hole or depression — was uncovered in a 35,000-year-old site in Cueva Morin, a Spanish cave. 

6. Which of the following supports the claim “It is in open-air sites that some prehistoric people lived in that one finds rich evidence for a variety of architectural features”? 

O The bad weather prehistoric people living in open-air sites were exposed to 

O Surviving pavements of stone cobbles

O Surviving shelters made from skins and wood 

O A 35,000-year foundation for a dug-out hut 

Paragraph 4: Sometimes open-air Upper Paleolithic sites show spectacular and unexpectedly complex architectural features. Such qualities are noteworthy at recently discovered sites in Ukraine and in the Czech Republic, where the primary building materials were the bones of woolly mammoths. At one site in Mezhirich, Ukraine, bones from 95 of these 10,000-pound animals were used to make a single dwelling. There were three more such dwellings at the Mezhirich site, composing a 15,000-year-old village. Each dwelling had a different arrangement of the giant bones, which came from the skeletons of long-dead animals retrieved from the surrounding area by occupants of the site, not from animals they had recently hunted. The different arrangements of the bones forming each dwelling yielded very different architectural styles and may have reflected different aesthetic requirements. Archaeologists estimate that one dwelling alone would have taken ten people five days to build. It is hard to know how many people lived at Mezhirich, but, if one calculates one family unit per dwelling, the site would have housed about twenty-five people. 

7. The word “spectacular” in the passage Is closest in meaning to 

O very important 

O highly original 

O remarkable

O attractive 

8. In paragraph 4, what is the author’s purpose in discussing a site at Mezhirich, Ukraine? 

O To show how hunting impacted the development of prehistoric agriculture 

O To illustrate the complexity of Upper Paleolithic architecture

O To identify the largest Upper Paleolithic dwelling discovered by archaeologists 

O To give an example of a typical Upper Paleolithic site 

9. According to paragraph 4, archaeologists believe all of the following about the prehistoric bone dwellings in Mezhirich, Ukraine, EXCEPT 

O They were located far away from the hunting areas of the people who built them.

O They were built mainly of the bones of a single type of large animal. 

O They were built in a variety of architectural styles. 

O Each would have required the help of a number of individuals to build. 

Paragraph 5: Plant materials, especially wood, would have been important as fuel for cooking, heating, and light. Certain species of trees and shrubs were sought, especially as fuel for bonfires and torches used to provide light in caves. The charcoal recovered at some French sites came primarily from jumper bushes. Their wood provided long-burning aromatic fuel because of its high resin content. People relied primarily on fireplaces for warmth in cold weather. The fireplaces took a surprising number of different forms that varied from period to period and from region to region. They varied from very small (a few centimeters in diameter) to immense (as much as two meters in diameter), and from cobble-lined structures to simple pits. Some were dug into the ground; others were not. Where available, wood served as the primary fuel. However, bone scraps (which made excellent fuel because of their fat content) were also used, especially in periods and regions without an abundance of wood. 

10. According to paragraph 5, wood from juniper bushes was a particularly attractive source of fuel because 

O juniper bushes were very common throughout France 

O juniper bushes provided a source of food in addition to fuel 

O juniper wood could also be used to construct fireplaces 

O juniper wood took a long time to burn

11. According to paragraph 5, fireplaces used by early peoples varied significantly in all of the following respects EXCEPT 

O their size 

O the type of fuel used 

O their architectural complexity 

O the purpose for which they were used

12. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because the express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points. 

Evidence from a wide variety of sources provides important information to archaeologists concerned with prehistoric human ecology.

Answer Choices 

O Prehistoric human ecology is the branch of prehistoric archaeology that uses a wide variety of scientific methods to determine the diets of prehistoric peoples. 

O Foundations of river cobbles are the most commonly found architectural feature, but the variety of some bone dwellings shows that aesthetic as well as practical considerations were sometimes taken into account. 

O Most prehistoric communities moved to caves and rock shelters when the weather became too severe at open-air sites. 

O The plant and animal remains at living sites, the mineral composition of human bones, and the wear on human teeth provide archaeologists with evidence concerning prehistoric diets.

O No particular plant or animal species is available all year, so prehistoric sites that were occupied for long periods have a wide variety of plant and animal remains. 

O Wood was the primary prehistoric fuel used for cooking, heating, and light.

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